Circular knit hosiery and method of closing the toe thereof



Aprll 25, 1961 c sLANE 2,980,917

CIRCULAR KNIT HOSIERY AND METHOD OF CLOSING THE TOE THEREOF Filed June22, 1959 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

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April 25, 1961 J.-C. SLANE 2,980,917

CIRCULAR KNIT HOSIERY AND METHOD OF CLOSING THE TOE THEREOF Filed June22, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 3

. \L k/ gag INVENTOR. Jfl/ili 6. 5/6/76, BY 9 3 iTmRfi fi APrll ,1961 J.c. SLANE 2,980,917

CIRCULAR KNIT HOSIERY AND METHOD OF CLOSING THE TOE THEREOF Filed June22, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet. 3

IN V EN TOR.

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"tates CIRCULAR KNIT HOSIERY AND METHOD OF CL'QSING THE TOE THEREOF.i'ohn C. Siane, High Point, N.C., assignor, by mesne assignments, toThe United States .Trust Company of New York, New York, N.Y., acorporation of New York Filed June 22, 1959, Ser. No. 821,852

'7 Claims. (Cl. 2-239) the use of skilled loopers who must first undergomany months of meticulous training.

Because of the high cost involved in looping circular knit hosiery, ithas become common practice in recent years to close the toes of inferiorquality half hose, known in the trade as seconds and thirds, by seamingto" gether the opposing raw edges of the toe'pocket and instep byconventional sewing machines. 7 Such seams, particularly with respect tomens half hose, are bulky, result in crinkles or puckers in the fabricand generally are undesirable when compared to a looped toe stocking.

In recent years, due'to improvements made in sewing machines, and theadvent of strong, relatively fine yarns, such as fine denier nylon yarn,it has become possible to successfully close the toes of ladies finedenier seamless hosiery by sewing a seam longitudinally of the bottom ofthe foot in lieu of the usual looping. Examples of such seaming aredisclosed in Getaz Patents Nos. Re. 24,314 and 2,740,279. While suchsewed seam closures along the bottom of the foot have proven to besatisfactory for ladies seamless stockings, the making of the toe pocketfor such closures requires special mechanisms on the knitting machineand involves considerable additional knitting time.

The present invention pertains to a novel method of closing the toes ofseamless hosiery which does not involve the use of special knittingmechanisms, nor the expenditure of any significant additional knittingtime, while at the same time achieving a highly satisfactory closureseam which is not bulky and which is free of fabric puckering orcrinkling. More particularly, this invention involves the formation of agusset in the foot of the stocking prior to knitting the toe pocket,whereby a hinging action is achieved permitting the closing of the toeby a traverse sewed seam without the incidental formation of crinkles orpuckers in the fabric, and further involves the seaming of the toe by athree thread two needle overedge sewing machine using sewing threadscomprising multifilament nylon of 100 denier or less, or equivalentthreads. I

Accordingly, the chief object of this invention is to provide a sewedtoe circular knit stocking wherein the seamed fabric is free of puckersor crinkles and wherein the seam is free of bulk while, at the sametime, being sutficiently strong to adequately and securely close thetoe.

A further object of this invention is to provide a method of closing thetoe of circular knit hosiery which dispenses with the time consuming andexpensive looping operation and at the same time does not involveadditional atent 2,980,917 Patented Apr. 25, 1961 ice . apparent fromthe following description of the attached drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation of a sock embodying this'invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view of that portion of the sockwithin the dot-dash rectangle II of Fig. 1 showing the outside of theseam of the sock.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing the inside of the seam of thesock.

.Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary, more or less dia granirnatic, viewof the toe portion of the sock.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a conventional three thread twoneedleoveredge sewing machine showing the manner in which a circularknit sock of this invention is fed to such machine for the purpose ofclosing the toe thereof.

'While'this invention shall be described herein with specific referenceto socks, such as mens half hose, it is to beunderstood that theinvention is readily adaptable to all types of circular knit hosiery,including ladies hosiery and 'childrens anklets.

V In Fig, .1, the sock 9 is shown as having the usual elastic top 10,leg portion 11, heel pocket 12, foot portion 13, with the instepindicated at 14 and the sole at 15, and the toe portion 16. The sock 9may be knit on any well known revolving needle cylinder seamless hosierymachine, such as the well known Scott & Williams type of machine. Asshown, the toe is closed by a transverse sewn seam 17 which secures thetop of the toe portion 16 to the instep portion 14. Formed in the toeportion of the stocking, on each side thereof, are two sutures 20 and 21which intersect at points 22 on each side of the toe of the stocking.The suture 20 is the usual suture formed during the knitting oftheconventional toe pocket.

As is more clearly shown in Fig. 4, suture 21 is formed as the result ofthe knitting of a gusset 23 in the stocking following the knitting ofthe foot portion 13 and prior to the knitting of the conventional toepocket. The

, gusset 23 is a wedge-shape portion of fabric disposed between the line22-46-27, adjacent-the foot portion of the stocking, and line 22-28,adjacent the toe pocket thereof. The gusset 23 may be formed, followingthe knitting of the last full circular course of the foot, by firstraising out of action not only all of the long butt needles used forknitting the instep 14, but also a few of the short butt needlesdisposed immediately on each side of the long butt needles, and thenreciprocating the needle cylinder in the usual manner. Thus, the gussetis initially formed by using less needles than are normally used incommencing knitting of the toe pocket. The gusset provides extra fabricat the bottom of the toe opposite the toe opening and thus allows theedges of the toe opening to be brought together and joined by a seamwithout formation of puckers, crinkles or pockets near the ends of thesutures, even when the seam does not start or finish precisely at thesuture junctures 22, which frequently may be the case in actualpractice. Ordinarily, when the seam does not start or finish at thesuture junctures 22,- the puckers or crinkles tend to become enlarged ormore emphasized in the fabric. However, with the addition of the gusset23, the formation of puckers or crinkles is eliminated regardless ofwhether or not the seam 17 starts or ends atthe suture junctures 22.

. As the needle cylinder reciprocates to form the gusset a uAnm s/ twoof the raised short butt needles upon each reciprocation of the needlecylinder, while the raising pick is placed into action to lift one ofthe two needles back-to raised position. This results in a single shortbuttneedle being added to the actively knitting needles upon: eachreciprocation of the needle cylinder,-thereby resulting in the gradualwidening of the gusset- 23' and the incidental formation of suture 21.Preferably,'the widening action continues until all of the short buttneedles have been returned to active position, and only the long buttneedles are left out of action. Thereupoin'the lowering pick is placedout of action and the usual toe pocket is knit in the usual way, byfirst narrowing and then Widening by theconventional use of the picks,resulting in the incidental formation of the suture 20 on each side ofthe toe pocket. As will be readily understood, the points ofintersection 22 of each pair of sutures 20, 21 necessarily will bedisposed in the same course of the sock.

Following the knitting of the toe pocket, the usual looper coursescomprising full circular courses are knit.

In view of the fact that the toe of the sock is not to'be closed by theconventional looping operation, it is not necessary to knit enlargedstitches in the course comprising the normal looper line of the toefabric. To facilitate the closing of the toe by the seaming operationwhich will be subsequently described, it is preferred that the severalcourses of fabric knitted subsequent to the knitting of the looper linehe knit of a yarn either of a contrasting'color or contrasting texturewith the yarn used to knit the courses preceding the looper line. Thepurpose of effecting such a yarn change is to make the looper line,along which the toe of the stocking is to be seamed, readily discernibleto the sewing machine operator. If desired, instead of eifecting a yarnchange for this purpose, some other detection means may be resorted to,such as the knitting of tuck stitches in one or more of the coursessubsequent to the course comprising the looper line.

As the sock is removed from the knitting machine, it is turned insideout. In preparing for seaming of the stocking, the fabric formed of thefull circular courses which are knit following the knitting of the toepocket is flattened, as shown at 24 in Fig. 5, so as to be disposed incontiguous. relation with itself. In'flattening the fabric in thismanner, the course comprising the looper 23, the lowering pick is placedinto action so as to lower line is superimposed upon itself startingadjacent one of the suture intersection points 22 at one side edge ofthe folded fabric and extending over and adjacent to the other sutureintersection point 22 on the opposite side edge of the fabric. 'With thefabric thus fl attened, it is passed under the foot 30 of aconventionalthree thread two needle overedge sewing machine 31, such asthe well known Singer or Merrow machines, as shown in Fig. 5, so thatthe transverse seam 17 is sewed across the normal looper line of thestocking, such seam overlapping at least two courses on each side of theflattened fabric. The seam 17 extends wursewise from one sutureintersection point 22 to the other suture intersection point 22',thereby securely joining loops of the toe portion of the stocking withthe opposing loops of the instep portion thereof. As shown in Fig. 5,the waste courses 32 adjacent the seam 17 are cut oif as the stocking isseamed.

As is well known, the conventional three thread two needle overedgesewing machine forms a seam from two needle threads 33 and 34 and from alooper thread 35. In the practice of this invention, it'is'pr'eferredthat both the needle and'looper threads be multifilament nylon of 100denier'or less, or else comprise a thread having the strength of a nylonthread of'l'OO denier or less. In practice, it has been found thatahighly sibletopass more sewn stitches through the seamed portion of theknitted fabric than there are wales thereof, thus insuring against theformation of runs in the stocking fabric.

By forming the gusset-23,-extra fabric is provided in the toe portion ofthe stocking which allows a hingingaction about an axis passing throughthe suture intersection points 22, thereby greatly facilitating thebringing of the raw edges of the toe and instep portions of the sockinto juxtaposition for the seaming operation. Additionally,the formationof the gusset 23 in the toe portion of the stocking avoids the formationof thecrinkles or puckers in the sock fabric which otherwise result fromtheseaming operation. This is true regardless of whether or not thesewed seam starts or ends exactly at the juncture 22 of the sutures.

Shown in Figs. 2 and}, respectively, are outside and inside views of theseamed sock fabric with the fabric flattened out. The cut edge of thetoe fabric 16 is shown at 16a and'the cut-edge of the instep fabric 14is shown at 1411." 'As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the seam 17 is of a widthto overlap at least two courses 37, 38 of the toe fabric 16 and at leasttwo courses 39, 40 of the instep fabric 14. The cut loop portions 41 ofthe waste counses 32 which remain in the fabric 14 and 16 are bound intothe seam 17 and aid in securing the sewed fabrics against runs. As isclearly shown in Fig. 2, due to the use of the relatively fine denierseaming threads, each wale of the sock contains a plurality of sewnstitches. While Fig; 2 shows diagrammatically, for purposes ofillustration, three sewn stitches in each fabric wale, in actualpractice there may be only two sewn stitches in some wales and more thanthree sewn stitches in other wales. In any event, the fact that thereare a plurality of sewn stitches in each fabric wale serves to insureagainst runs in the seamed fabric.

As mentioned above, it is desirable to have at least two stitches ineach wale so that even though the stitches are placed irregularly, eachwale is securely held. As also mentioned above, this is bestaccomplished by a two-needle, three-thread machine, because by using twospaced needles, the desired number of stitches per wale maybe obtainedwithout placing the stitches so close together that the needles mightinjure the fabric and withoutcausing the seam to become bulky due toexcessive looper thread. As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the two transverserows of needle loops on each side on the toe opening are parallel withthe cut edges of the fabric. and are spaced apart a substantialdistance, equal to the spacing of the points of the needles in theseaming machine. Moreover, the fabric penetration points of the twoneedles are preferably slightly staggered along the length of the seamso that if, by any chance, a wale is missed by one needle, it is sure tobe caught by the other.

If the stitches of these two needle threads are of the A same relativelyshort length so as to pull the two layers of knitted fabric closetogether, it is not possible to open the seam except to the limitedextent permitted by stretching of the thread of the outside needle or bydistortion of the knitted fabric. One of the main purposes of thisinvention is to provide a flat seam which will not form aridge in thefabric, and this purpose preferably is accomplished by making thestitches of the outside needle, as shown by thread 34, longer than isrequired merely to pass through the two layers of fabricby an amountapproximately equal to twice the distance between'either of the outerrows of needle stitches and the cut edges ofthe fabric. This providessufiicient length of thread for'the outside needle stitches to permitthe fabric to be opened up fiat with the oppos satisfactory seam ofsufficient strength-and wearabil ity, and without excessive bulk, may beformed from needle and looper threads of 70 deniernylon each. By usingsues relatively -fin'e* s'ewing threads,- it is--posing cut' fabricedges disposed in edge to edge abutting relationship in substantiallythe same plane, as shown in Figs; 2 and 3. Preferably, but notnecessarily, the stitches of the 'inside' needle thread; asshown' by thethread 33, are shorter than the stitches of the outside needle thread byan amount approximately equal to twice the space between the fabricpenetration points of the two needles, i.e. twice the spacing betweenthe two transverse rows of needle loops on either side of the toeopening. Thus, when the fabric is opened up, with the cut edges 14a and16a disposed in edge to edge abutting relation, the stitches of both theinside and outside needle threads are pulled out straight, but withoutany tension on either the knitted loops of the fabric or the threads ofthe stitches of the seam. This difference in length or size of stitchesof the two needlei threads may be obtained by any suitable known meansused in connection with the seaming machine. Alternatively, suchabutting relation of the cut fabric edges may be achieved by usingelastic yarn for the needle threads. If desired, the stitches of theinside needle thread may be made as long as, or nearly as long as, thestitches of the outside needle thread, but a less attractive seam willresult, due to the relatively excessive length of the inside needlethread stitches. With such a seam, the two rows of needle thread loopson each side of the toe opening will tend to slide together over thelooper thread.

While a preferred embodiment of this invention has been described indetail, it will be obvious to one skilled in the art that variousmodifications may be made therein without departing from the inventionas hereinafter claimed.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A circular knit stocking having a toe opening defined by opposing cutfabric edges disposed in abutting relation in substantially the sameplane, said opening being closed by a seam composed of two needlethreads anchored by a single looper-thread, the needle threads beingdisposed in two rows of fabric penetrating loo-ps on each side of thetoe opening, the individual loops of each of the two outermost rows ofneedle thread loops generally passing through dififerent courses of theknitted fabric than the next adjacent loops of the next adjacent innerrow of needle thread loops, the two outermost rows of needle threadloops being connected together to form plural stitches of one needlethread and the two inner rows of needle thread loops being connectedtogether to form plural stitches of the other needle thread.

2. The stocking of claim 1 wherein the connecting portions of thestitches'of the outermost rows of needle thread loops have a length atleast equal to twice the distance between the fabric penetration pointsof the loops of either outer row and the next adjacent cut edge of thefabric.

3. A circular knit stocking formed with a plurality of cylinder needlewales and having a toe opening defined by opposing cut fabric edgesdisposed in substantially the same plane in abutting relation to eachother, said toe opening being closed by a transverse seam composed oftwo separate needle threads each forming a plurality of needle threadstitches, the needle thread stitches of one of said needle threadsgenerally passing through different courses of knitted loops at eachside of said toe opening than the needle thread stitches of the other ofsaid needle threads and the needle thread stitches of both of saidneedle threads being anchored by a single looper thread, said needlethread stitches to gether comprising in number at least three times thenumber of cylinder needle wales in the stocking.

4. A circular knit stocking formed with a plurality of needle Wales andhaving a toe opening defined by opposing cut fabric edges disposed inabutting relation in substantially the same plane, said toe openingbeing closed by a seam containing a first plurality of needle threadstitches overlapping at least one knitted course of said fabric on eachside of the toe opening, said needle thread stitches being greater innumber than the needle wales of the stocking; and a second plurality ofneedle thread stitches extending further into the fabric on each side ofthe toe opening than said first plurality of stitches, said secondplurality of needle thread stitches also being greater in number thanthe needle wales of the stocking; and a single looper thread disposed onone side of the fabric and anchoring all of said needle thread stitches.

5. The stocking of claim 4 further including a gusset formed adjacentthe toe thereof.

6. The stocking of claim 5 wherein the seam and gusset are disposed,respectively, adjacent opposite sides of the toe.

7. The stocking of claim 5 wherein the seam is disposed adjacent the topof the toe and the gusset is formed adjacent the bottom of the toe.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,192,800 Scott July 25, 1916 1,621,343 Williams Mar. 15, 1927 1,669,591Williams May 15, 1928 1,984,970 Goodman Dec. 18, 1934 1,987,090 WeinholzIan. 8, 1935 2,073,487 Lawson et a1. Mar. 9, 1937 2,475,845 Lawson July12, 1949 2,617,114 Sanson Nov. 11, 1952 2,868,147 Wood Jan. 13, 19592,871,806 Bley Feb. 3, 1959 2,903,872 Ledwell Sept. 15, 1959 Dedication'2,980,917.J07m 0. Slam-e, High Point, NC. CIRCULAR KNIT HOSIERY ANDMETHOD OF CLOSING THE TOE THEREOF. Patent dated Apr. 25, 1961.Dedication filed Dec. 4, 1963, by the essignee, Fmnla D. DeLong, J1".

Hereby dedicates to the public the entire term of said patent subsequentto November 15, 1963.

[Oficz'aZ Gazette February 18, 1.964.]

